The federal IT department on Monday said they are “working to establish digital credentials” for Canadians without parliamentary go-ahead.MPs have repeatedly rejected introduction of any electronic national ID system as expensive and risky, per Blacklock’s Reporter.“With more business conducted online, the Government of Canada and interested partners need a common set of capabilities to enable people to be issued, hold and present these types of credentials to make trusted claims about themselves in ways that are user friendly, cryptographically secure, privacy respecting, machine verifiable and to prevent misuse of their credentials by others,” said a notice to contractors by Shared Services Canada.Any new system should allow regulators to revoke “credentials,” said the notice on the department’s plan for “issuing and verifying digital credentials for the Government of Canada.”It did not elaborate. The notice did not explain if enrollment would be mandatory..Freeland tells court federally-chartered digital bank compromised by Chinese Communist Party.“The Government of Canada is requesting information on current and future industry solutions that could provide a common set of capabilities to the Government of Canada and interested partners to enable them to issue, verify and revoke digital credentials, and enable their external and internal clients to hold, share and verify the digital credentials they issue,” said the agency.The notice followed 2023 in-house Privy Council research on a national electronic ID system. “Widespread adoption of digital credentials by Canadians may be difficult to achieve especially among cohorts of society who may already be somewhat distrustful of public institutions,” said the September 7, 2023 research paper..IT 'issues' expected with Trudeau Liberals’ $556M digital border program.This week’s memo compared “digital credentials” to mandatory federal ID like Social Insurance Numbers. “Digital credentials are the equivalent of traditional physical credentials, enabling users to digitally prove things about themselves online and in person through a ‘holder component,’ e.g. digital wallet,” wrote Shared Services Canada.“The Government of Canada and interested partners, e.g. local, provincial and territorial governments, are working to establish digital credentials as a foundational pillar for delivering modern digital services, enabling people to interact with them with trust, speed and security,” said the notice.“People are issued all sorts of credentials in their daily lives such as drivers’ licenses, university degrees, travel documents, work permits, Social Insurance Numbers and study permits.”Parliamentary committees have repeatedly studied and rejected proposals for a national identification card. A proposal to use Social Insurance Numbers was dismissed by the Commons human resources committee in 1999..WATCH: Quebec municipality implements QR code system to get out of town. The Commons Immigration Committee in 2003 said introducing a national ID system would be costly, up to $5 billion, and open to abuse. “The committee was warned many times about the prospect of the police being able to stop people on the street and demand proof of their identity,” the committee wrote in a report.The report was prompted by a proposal from then-Immigration Minister Denis Coderre for a national ID card as a 9/11 security measure. “While the new focus on a positive proof of identity is partially rooted in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks, other forces are at play,” Coderre testified at 2003 hearings.“Identity theft is seen as a serious and growing problem in Canada. A national ID card is simply a tool that permits the bearer to prove with a high degree of certainty that they are who they are.”
The federal IT department on Monday said they are “working to establish digital credentials” for Canadians without parliamentary go-ahead.MPs have repeatedly rejected introduction of any electronic national ID system as expensive and risky, per Blacklock’s Reporter.“With more business conducted online, the Government of Canada and interested partners need a common set of capabilities to enable people to be issued, hold and present these types of credentials to make trusted claims about themselves in ways that are user friendly, cryptographically secure, privacy respecting, machine verifiable and to prevent misuse of their credentials by others,” said a notice to contractors by Shared Services Canada.Any new system should allow regulators to revoke “credentials,” said the notice on the department’s plan for “issuing and verifying digital credentials for the Government of Canada.”It did not elaborate. The notice did not explain if enrollment would be mandatory..Freeland tells court federally-chartered digital bank compromised by Chinese Communist Party.“The Government of Canada is requesting information on current and future industry solutions that could provide a common set of capabilities to the Government of Canada and interested partners to enable them to issue, verify and revoke digital credentials, and enable their external and internal clients to hold, share and verify the digital credentials they issue,” said the agency.The notice followed 2023 in-house Privy Council research on a national electronic ID system. “Widespread adoption of digital credentials by Canadians may be difficult to achieve especially among cohorts of society who may already be somewhat distrustful of public institutions,” said the September 7, 2023 research paper..IT 'issues' expected with Trudeau Liberals’ $556M digital border program.This week’s memo compared “digital credentials” to mandatory federal ID like Social Insurance Numbers. “Digital credentials are the equivalent of traditional physical credentials, enabling users to digitally prove things about themselves online and in person through a ‘holder component,’ e.g. digital wallet,” wrote Shared Services Canada.“The Government of Canada and interested partners, e.g. local, provincial and territorial governments, are working to establish digital credentials as a foundational pillar for delivering modern digital services, enabling people to interact with them with trust, speed and security,” said the notice.“People are issued all sorts of credentials in their daily lives such as drivers’ licenses, university degrees, travel documents, work permits, Social Insurance Numbers and study permits.”Parliamentary committees have repeatedly studied and rejected proposals for a national identification card. A proposal to use Social Insurance Numbers was dismissed by the Commons human resources committee in 1999..WATCH: Quebec municipality implements QR code system to get out of town. The Commons Immigration Committee in 2003 said introducing a national ID system would be costly, up to $5 billion, and open to abuse. “The committee was warned many times about the prospect of the police being able to stop people on the street and demand proof of their identity,” the committee wrote in a report.The report was prompted by a proposal from then-Immigration Minister Denis Coderre for a national ID card as a 9/11 security measure. “While the new focus on a positive proof of identity is partially rooted in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks, other forces are at play,” Coderre testified at 2003 hearings.“Identity theft is seen as a serious and growing problem in Canada. A national ID card is simply a tool that permits the bearer to prove with a high degree of certainty that they are who they are.”